PRESS STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS ON THE MISSING MALAYSIA AIRLINES AIRCRAFT MH370,
PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA, 9 MARCH 2014
The Government of Malaysia joins all Malaysians in this moment of anguish and anxiety over the tragedy that befell on the passengers and crew of Malaysia Airlines aircraft flight MH370 on 8 March 2014 en-route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
The Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 departed KLIA at 12.41am to Beijing and had lost contact with the Subang Air Traffic Control at 2.40am. The aircraft was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members.
The Government of Malaysia is sparing no efforts to galvanize the resources within its disposal in the ongoing search and rescue efforts. It has established with immediate effect a national Coordination Centre at the National Disaster Control Centre (NDCC), Pulau Meranti, Cyberjaya to monitor the development of the situation.
The Government of Malaysia welcomes and appreciates the assistance and cooperation from the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the People’s Republic of China, the United States of America, Republic of Singapore and the Republic of the Philippines in deploying their assets to support and assist in the search and rescue operations. In this context, the Malaysian Foreign Minister has contacted the Singaporean, Vietnamese and Philippines Foreign Ministers, in the context of ASEAN, to seek their assistance. The Government of Malaysia also looks forward to welcoming similar assistance from other countries and international organizations in the search and rescue operations.
The Government of Malaysia recognizes the anguish and anxiety of the next of kin and family members of those on board of flight MH370. Our thoughts and prayers are with them, especially for all the passengers and crew of the aircraft.
The Government of Malaysia through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will provide its fullest cooperation to the respective Foreign Missions in Malaysia whose nationals are passengers of flight MH370. To this end, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has set-up an operation room that can be contacted at 03 - 88874570 and via email at dutyofficer@kln.gov.my.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
PUTRAJAYA
9 March 2014